wayfaring_witch's review
4.0
This book is about a woman's fight against the death penalty. It supplies you with a lot of interesting information about the process, and helps connect multiple perspectives.
I've always been moderately against the death penalty, but I never expected what would happen while reading this book. My friend was shot and murdered by a gang member in Chicago. Honestly, at that time I wanted to kill the person who did that to him myself.
It let me think about the content on a whole new level, and possibly it helped me forgive a little too. Overall, an insightful read on a topic I think everyone should at least be informed about.
I've always been moderately against the death penalty, but I never expected what would happen while reading this book. My friend was shot and murdered by a gang member in Chicago. Honestly, at that time I wanted to kill the person who did that to him myself.
It let me think about the content on a whole new level, and possibly it helped me forgive a little too. Overall, an insightful read on a topic I think everyone should at least be informed about.
poachedeggs's review against another edition
3.0
The death penalty is still used in Singapore and there is no sign that it will be abolished any time soon. The way it is carried out is vastly different from how the U.S. imposes it - there is little room for appeals, re-hearings and the granting of a pardon. Once sentenced, the inmate is hanged fairly quickly.
Reading Dead Man Walking (I haven't seen the movie), it's hard not to compare the situation Sister Helen describes with that in Singapore. One of Sister Helen's more persistent arguments is that capital punishment has not been proven to deter serious crime; I think, however, that this is something that may not be true in Singapore, for the reasons I cited in the first paragraph.
What is a more powerful argument for me is whether we can ever trust the state or a government to pass judgment on a human being and take away the life of another when human beings are inherently flawed, much less an unwieldy group of them. I do think lifelong imprisonment without the possibility of parole would be more ethical.
Then again, I have to admit that I feel seriously uncomfortable at the thought of people like Ted Bundy still being alive and imprisoned somewhere in my country. Sister Helen makes a good case for Pat, the first death row inmate she befriends, but Willie, the second one she gets to know, does not seem to regret his actions (more than one murder - and a rape) one bit. Much as I think the death penalty should be abolished, I need to reconcile myself with the fact that many crazy, cold-blooded murderers will continue to haunt society if the death penalty were gone.
Back to the book - I was drawn to the first few chapters, which are impassioned and moving, but Sister Helen's style becomes rather repetitive, especially as she includes her story with Willie after Pat's, and tends to revisit arguments more than once (or even twice) in the course of the book.
Reading Dead Man Walking (I haven't seen the movie), it's hard not to compare the situation Sister Helen describes with that in Singapore. One of Sister Helen's more persistent arguments is that capital punishment has not been proven to deter serious crime; I think, however, that this is something that may not be true in Singapore, for the reasons I cited in the first paragraph.
What is a more powerful argument for me is whether we can ever trust the state or a government to pass judgment on a human being and take away the life of another when human beings are inherently flawed, much less an unwieldy group of them. I do think lifelong imprisonment without the possibility of parole would be more ethical.
Then again, I have to admit that I feel seriously uncomfortable at the thought of people like Ted Bundy still being alive and imprisoned somewhere in my country. Sister Helen makes a good case for Pat, the first death row inmate she befriends, but Willie, the second one she gets to know, does not seem to regret his actions (more than one murder - and a rape) one bit. Much as I think the death penalty should be abolished, I need to reconcile myself with the fact that many crazy, cold-blooded murderers will continue to haunt society if the death penalty were gone.
Back to the book - I was drawn to the first few chapters, which are impassioned and moving, but Sister Helen's style becomes rather repetitive, especially as she includes her story with Willie after Pat's, and tends to revisit arguments more than once (or even twice) in the course of the book.
starrfishandcoffee's review
So heavy and needed a break. Hope to read it at a later time.
onceuponasarah's review
1.0
I had to read this book for school. It wasn't awful, but not something I would pick up on my own. Subject matter is rather.. deep I guess. The one really big PROBLEM I had with the book is the layout of it. Not necessarily the way it's written, but how what was written was put together. If you have to read it for school it could get worse than this book.
sahar_din's review
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
3.75
This is a tough but incredibly important read! Our criminal justice system is beyond broken and all though this book was written probably over 20 years ago, so many of the concepts discuss still are relevant. The death penalty is not justice. Sr Helen does an incredible job of acknowledging the difficulty of advocating against the death penalty when so much wrong has been done, but death is not justice and sentencing someone to death does not bring another back. Revenge is a confusing thing. And I think we all think we are above it, but when it happens to you, you never know how you will react. It’s scary. There are parts of being human that are terrifying. Sr Helen does a great job of describing the turmoil that goes into being human. We are flawed. But we do not need to act on our flaws. I unfortunately probably missed a lot of information because it was very content heavy, but regardless, I’m glad I read this book and it reminds me that injustice is rampant and there is much work to be done.
silodear's review
4.0
An important book for the movement to end the death penalty. I found Prejean's writing to be insightful, honest, and self-reflective in important ways. She is able to thoughtfully address how racism fuels and forges the criminal punishment system in this country. While Prejean isn't a prison abolitionist, and her critique of the prison industrial complex isn't deep enough to call into question the whole practice of caging human beings, she has done an excellent job with humanizing "throw away" people and calling into question the existence of the death penalty. This is a book that I think everyone should read.
crizzle's review
4.0
Do you believe in the right to life? We always hear about the rights of the unborn child to live, but when do we ever hear anyone speaking out against the death penalty? I challenge anyone who thinks they are for capital punishment (according to Gallup, 60% of us!) to read this book. You come away knowing that state-sanctioned killing is morally and ethically wrong, and violates the 8th Amendment of the Constitution (cruel and unusual punishment). Why?
1. It is unfair and discriminatory. People with money DON'T get executed. The poor can't afford good lawyers. I think she said last century 23 people were wrongly executed ... who knows how many more? Personally, I believe Pat Sonnier (the first man she was a spiritual advisor to) didn't do it, as his brother confessed later. If Pat had money to have better lawyers, he wouldn't have gone to the chair.
2. It has been proven NOT to deter other violent crime. Texas kills more of its citizens every year than any other state, yet its murder rate is one of the highest. It actually may even spark more violent crimes, as it seems as though when there is an execution, shortly after there is more crime. Is it the press coverage? Or just the fact that the cycle of violence was not stopped?
3. The cost. It is WAY more expensive to execute a criminal than it is to give them a life sentence. Taxpayers pay MILLIONS more for a death penalty case, what with the fees in pre-trial, trials, and appeals. "The death penalty, although it sounds tough on crime, is actually a diversion of resources away from crime-fighting programs that truly make our streets and neighborhoods safer." (pg 233)
4. It is just WRONG. Our country is teaching us that if you have a really bad problem with someone, you should just kill them. But give them a date and time so their mind is tortured while they wait; talk about a cold, calculated murder. No government is perfect or righteous enough to exert this ability to say who should die over its citizens, not Nazi Germany, not USA. We are the only NATO country that still executes - Turkey is the only other country who hasn't banned it, but hasn't executed since '84... 30 years. "..the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human RIghts, which unequivocally endorses the right of every human being not to be killed and not to be subjected to torture or cruel and degrading punishment - and the US signed that declaration" (pg 103).
The entire process of the execution disturbs me; everyone can say they were just doing their job so no one gets the blame of killing a man, it's done so secretively in the middle of the night.
Sister Helen always comes across Christians FOR the death penalty, with is so ironic. Of course, they quote the Old Testament, which also prescribes death as punishment for profaning the sabbath, adultery, contempt of parents, homosexuality, prostitution... also, they were a nomadic culture who and didn't have the 'luxury' of good prison systems. Do we just ignore Jesus' teachings, Jesus, who taught love, peace, forgiveness, who, as he was murdered, asked the Father to forgive his murderers? I am not saying we should pretend like criminals didn't do wrong. They may have done a horrible thing, but "if we are to have a society which protects its citizens from torture and murder, then torture and murder must be off-limits to everyone... and that includes government" (pg 124).
What if the victim was part of my family? Sister Helen had a point in that the murderer on death row is a constant reminder and catalyst to relive old pains every time you go to another trial or see something on the news. How can you move on like that?
I had to knock off one star on how she wrote the first half of the book - the one thing I didn't appreciate was she wrote like the audience already knew the story, with spoilers thrown in as little sidenotes, like 'later, after his execution, I...'. Come on, you ruined the suspense!
1. It is unfair and discriminatory. People with money DON'T get executed. The poor can't afford good lawyers. I think she said last century 23 people were wrongly executed ... who knows how many more? Personally, I believe Pat Sonnier (the first man she was a spiritual advisor to) didn't do it, as his brother confessed later. If Pat had money to have better lawyers, he wouldn't have gone to the chair.
2. It has been proven NOT to deter other violent crime. Texas kills more of its citizens every year than any other state, yet its murder rate is one of the highest. It actually may even spark more violent crimes, as it seems as though when there is an execution, shortly after there is more crime. Is it the press coverage? Or just the fact that the cycle of violence was not stopped?
3. The cost. It is WAY more expensive to execute a criminal than it is to give them a life sentence. Taxpayers pay MILLIONS more for a death penalty case, what with the fees in pre-trial, trials, and appeals. "The death penalty, although it sounds tough on crime, is actually a diversion of resources away from crime-fighting programs that truly make our streets and neighborhoods safer." (pg 233)
4. It is just WRONG. Our country is teaching us that if you have a really bad problem with someone, you should just kill them. But give them a date and time so their mind is tortured while they wait; talk about a cold, calculated murder. No government is perfect or righteous enough to exert this ability to say who should die over its citizens, not Nazi Germany, not USA. We are the only NATO country that still executes - Turkey is the only other country who hasn't banned it, but hasn't executed since '84... 30 years. "..the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human RIghts, which unequivocally endorses the right of every human being not to be killed and not to be subjected to torture or cruel and degrading punishment - and the US signed that declaration" (pg 103).
The entire process of the execution disturbs me; everyone can say they were just doing their job so no one gets the blame of killing a man, it's done so secretively in the middle of the night.
Sister Helen always comes across Christians FOR the death penalty, with is so ironic. Of course, they quote the Old Testament, which also prescribes death as punishment for profaning the sabbath, adultery, contempt of parents, homosexuality, prostitution... also, they were a nomadic culture who and didn't have the 'luxury' of good prison systems. Do we just ignore Jesus' teachings, Jesus, who taught love, peace, forgiveness, who, as he was murdered, asked the Father to forgive his murderers? I am not saying we should pretend like criminals didn't do wrong. They may have done a horrible thing, but "if we are to have a society which protects its citizens from torture and murder, then torture and murder must be off-limits to everyone... and that includes government" (pg 124).
What if the victim was part of my family? Sister Helen had a point in that the murderer on death row is a constant reminder and catalyst to relive old pains every time you go to another trial or see something on the news. How can you move on like that?
I had to knock off one star on how she wrote the first half of the book - the one thing I didn't appreciate was she wrote like the audience already knew the story, with spoilers thrown in as little sidenotes, like 'later, after his execution, I...'. Come on, you ruined the suspense!